


Dawn

by AndreyaWinchester



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Another 4am fic, Canonical Character Death, Citadel, Daemons, Darkness, Death, End Game Spoilers, Feels, Forgive Me, Gen, Hurt, I do not know how to tag, Kinda, Not Beta Read, Post Game, Potions, Spoilers, corpse, just in case, rated t for mild violence i guess, right after Noct leaves them at the stairs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-18
Packaged: 2018-10-20 12:46:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10662906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndreyaWinchester/pseuds/AndreyaWinchester
Summary: Back to back the three of them fought. Prepared to lay down their lives here so Noct could complete the task of banishing darkness from this world.The clash of metal against iron rang out as Gladio’s great sword landed a hard blow to the arm of the Daemon he was fighting. Small ‘tings’ of Prompto’s bullets ricocheting off of the daemon also sounded in the darkness. The clashing of Ignis’ daggers as he charged the daemon were clear as day.





	Dawn

**Author's Note:**

> I started this at 2 in the morning and i do not know why i write fics this late. Prepare for errors, problems, and stuff like that. my brain doesn't work well this late, but i really wanted to write this and was determined to finish it tonight.   
> Will most likely rewrite or edit later.
> 
> Enjoy, and do feel free to leave comments!!

Back to back the three of them fought. Prepared to lay down their lives here so Noct could complete the task of banishing darkness from this world. 

 

The clash of metal against iron rang out as Gladio’s greatsword landed a hard blow to the arm of the Daemon he was fighting. Small ‘tings’ of Prompto’s bullets ricocheting off of the daemon also sounded in the darkness. The clashing of Ignis’ daggers as he charged the daemon were clear as day.

 

Day. The sky hung dark above them still, with no signs of the sun prevailing any time soon. 

 

“C’mon, Noct.” Gladio grunted as he braced himself for a hit from the heated sword the daemon wielded, knocking him back a few feet.

 

“He’ll do it. I know he will.” Prompto said as he summoned his machinery, hitting the creature with a powerful blast.

 

Ignis’ back hit the ground hard as he was thrown back by the Iron Giant. A groan erupted from the strategist before Gladio ran over, grabbing him by the arm and hoisting him up. He pulled out a potion and cracked it over the others chest.

 

“Don’t quit on us now, Iggy. None of us are allowed to die until we get to experience the sun rise.” he said, looking at the man as he regained composure.

 

“Of course. The second dawn strikes, I’ll know it.” he said confidently, the potion taking its effect. He threw himself back into battle, as did Gladio. 

 

“Together now, guys!” Prompto called, falling back to stand beside the other two. They nodded, and all together they surged forward with their attack. 

 

Gladio thrust his greatsword into the arm of the daemon, Ignis shoved his javelin into the other, and prompto leapt up onto the beast's chest and blasted him with his machinery, a direct blow to its chest.

 

As it fell, more and more erupted from the ground in shrouds of darkness.

 

“Damnit!” Gladio swore, the three of them standing back to back to back. 

 

“We’re gunna die here,” Prompto said, looking at the creatures. There was no way they could take them all on. 

 

“Have a little faith, Prompto.” Ignis spoke, yet even he was struck with fear at the sounds and the tension in the air. 

 

“I’m ready to lay down my life for Noct, so I’m going to stand here and fight off every one of these bastards till my last breath leaves me!” The blonde declared, charging back into battle once more. Ignis and Gladio nodded in agreement, then surged into battle as well.

 

“Keep pushing through, guys. And keep the Daemons away from the Citadel!” Gladio’s voice called through the dark air, returned by two affirmative grunts. 

 

“We can do this,” Ignis breathed as he braced himself for a hard hit from a goblin, quickly spearing it through the head. Another one was charging him, and he called his daggers to his hand.

 

Except they never appeared. 

 

He was thrown backwards rather harshly, hitting the ground harder than last time. 

 

“Iggy!” Prompto called, running over to the man on the ground. He pulled out a potion and cracked it over the other, looking up to see yet another goblin approaching them. He called his gun to his hand.

 

But it never materialized.

 

It was Prompto’s turn to be thrown back, hitting the railing that overlooked the large open space below them. He almost fell overit, had it not been for Ignis’ sudden grasp on his shirt.

 

“Bless you, Ignis!” he sighed.

 

“Be lucky I grabbed in the right direction. Had you not screamed, I surely would have missed.” he said, adjusting his glasses, regardless of needing to do so.

 

Glado skidded to a halt before them as an Iron Giant made its way for them. 

 

“Enough chit chat!” he said, and all three of them dodged the attack, sending the daemon over the railing instead. 

 

A horde of goblins charged them. Gladio called to him his shield to block the attack.

 

Yet his shield never manifested. 

 

“Damnit!” he shouted loudly, delivering punches and kicks to the oncoming creatures. Prompto and Ignis did the same, the three of them coming to stand shoulder to shoulder, back to back to back once more.

 

“Okay, can I just repeat the fact that we are gunna die here?” Prompto said, eyes flicking between the creatures surrounding them, and the Citadel. 

 

“If I understand correctly,” Ignis spoke slowly, stance braced for a attack. “Noct has left the living world.” he said, and the graveness of the statement settled over the three of them. “He is on his way to complete the task at hand.”

 

“So...He’s really gone,” Prompto said, quickly delivering a kick to a goblin. Even through the heat of battle and the fear of dying, he felt his chest grow tight and a wetness form in his eyes.

 

“We knew this was coming,” Gladio said, grunting as he took on the full weight of two goblins before grabbing them, smashing their heads together and throwing them back. “But dammit, That doesn’t make it any easier.” his voice cracked.

 

“Indeed. Yet we cannot give up our own battle just yet. Noct is on his way to completing the task of defeating Darkness from this world. We just need to hold out a little longer,” the strategist spoke, and a tear ran down his face. 

 

They had all prepared for this moment, yet when it came it was harder than they could’ve imagined. 

 

Yet they fought on. 

 

The three of them dispersed from each other once again. 

 

Prompto got the attention of the Two Iron Giants that were about to attack Ignis. He got them to come towards him, as close to the railings as he could before he ducked. 

 

“Gladio!” he called, and the shield ran at them, leaping into the air and delivering a kick to one of the Daemon’s backs, enough force to cause it to lose balance and stumble forward, tripping over the rail.

 

He repeated the notion for the second creature.

 

The shield rushed to haul Prompto to his feet again, the two of them sharing in a momentary fist bump at having the largest of the daemons out of their way until they figured out how to get to the stairs and climb backup.

 

It was a good thing daemons weren’t the smartest.

 

Ignis was fighting hand to hand with a group of goblins, kicking and punching, sweeping his leg to knock them all off balance.

 

Prompto and Gladio were making they’re way over to regroup once more when Prompto felt a sharp pain through his torso and he was lifted. 

 

A Ronin had impaled him on it’s sword. He let out a blood curdling scream as he gripped the blade with gloved hands, trying to push himself off of the blade. Gladio instantly grabbed the daemon and knocked it back, causing it to drop its sword. Ignish rushed over to pull the sword from Prompto’s torso, cracking a potion over the man.

 

Prompto was in a lot of pain, and the potion was not doing much to alleviate it. It was taking its grand old time mending his wound. He couldn’t fight like this, and more daemons surrounded them. 

 

“Leave me, fight.” he told Ignis, pushing weakly at the man’s chest. The blonde watched a look of discord cross the strategists features before he reluctantly pushed himself to his feet and moved away from the injured gunman, returning to the battle at hand.

 

Gladio glanced over and grunted. He had the ronin pinned and grabbed its sword to decapitate it, killing it. Unfortunately, it’s sword dissipated into thin air just as the creature itself did. 

 

Gladio rose and turned to look at the battle before them, just in time to see an Iron Giant from the lower level throw a blind swing up onto their level, successfully hitting ignis. 

 

“Iggy!” the name ripped through the air as Gladio ran over to the allen advisor. He too pulled out a potion and cracked it over the other's chest, yet Ignis made no motion to rejoin the battle.

 

“It is not a statement I would have liked to agree with,” he spoke, face twisted in pain. “But I’m afraid I agree with Prompto. We are going to die here.”

 

Hearing those words fall from Ignis’ mouth made Gladio’s stomach drop. Of all people to give up hope, it wasn’t Ignis. 

 

“Pull yourself together, Specs!” he said, cracking yet another potion over the man who tried to shove the shield away. 

 

“Gladio,”

 

“DAMMIT!” he screamed, finally releasing the advisor and standing, looking between Ignis and Prompto. “Hurry Up, Noct. Please.” he said, staring at the sky, then at the daemons surrounding him. 

 

Goblins made their approaches towards the two injured comrades, and Gladio ran to attack, only to be knocked backwards with brute force from a glamhoth. He fell back and felt the creature's claws rip straight through his uniform and cut deep into his skin. He kicked it off of himself, wincing at the pain the motion caused.

 

“Damn..” he cracked a potion over his own chest, yet it did little to alleviate the pain he was in.

 

“This is it.” Prompto’s voice was weak.

 

“We fought to the end, and we saw Noct to the throne. He will prevail.” Ignis spoke.

 

“The road’s been fun, guys.” Gladio spoke, shutting his eyes. 

 

They were going to die by the hands of this daemon horde.

 

All at once a pain sound erupted from each and every daemon surrounding them.

 

A Gasp left Prompto’s lips as he looked around himself. He weakly reached into his pocket to grab another potion, cracking the vial over his chest before weakly pushing himself into a sitting position, watching the daemons fade into nonexistence.

 

Gladio also sat up, slowly rising to his feet as he too cracked another potion over his chest. He looked around, eyes landing on Ignis who was slowly rising, good eye opened wide, regardless of unseeing. 

 

The three of them turned their heads towards the sky. And then it happened. 

 

Through the darkness of the night and the clouds that littered the sky, they watched as the black began to lighten. 

 

Shades of dark black and blue faded out to dark greens and purples, and rather quickly those colors began to fade to shades of reds and oranges, pinks and light purples. Prompto squinted at the barrage of colors that flooded the sky above Insomnia.

 

“This is,” Ignis spoke, voice unbelieving, trembling. “Dawn. Dawn has struck.” he said, turning his head in the direction of his friends.

 

Gladio stared at the sky for a long time, unanswering. He too was squinting, and soon had to look away at the brightness. 

 

“Damn right. It’s been way too long.” he said, reaching up to rub his eyes as they worked to adjust to the light. And perhaps he was wiping away a few tears at the motion.

 

Prompto didn’t bother to clear his tears as he thrust his fist into the air, jumping with complete and utter happiness. 

 

“Morning finally strikes!!” he said, immediately regretting the motion of jumping as he felt the pain from his stab wound spike through his body. 

 

The three of them soon turned their attention towards the Citadel. A soft, yet sad expression crossed Prompto’s face. 

 

“Ya did it buddy.” he said, again letting his tears fall.

 

Gladio didn’t stop his own this time either. Nor did Ignis. The three of them stood in a comfortable silence as the Sun continued to rise over the horizon and shine over the world of Eos.

 

“Ya pulled through right in time.” Gladio grunted, crossing his arms over his chest.

 

“You’ve assured that the prophecy was fulfilled, in turn saving all of us; all of Eos.” Ignis spoke.

 

They stood in silence for a long time after that, just taking in the sight and sounds and overall feeling of what was happening.

 

“Should we…” Prompto began, but his chest grew tight and he halted his sentence. 

 

“Yeah, probably but,” Gladio also halted his sentence. Unable to speak the following sentence.

 

“We must be prepared for what lies inside.” Ignis spoke carefully, taking a step forward. “There may be a chance there is nothing at all. That Noctis’ body would have dissipated from this plain of existence. But there is also the chance that his body remains.” Ignis was the one to say what they all couldn’t bring themselves to.

 

Prompto swallowed thickly, raising his arm to wipe his tears onto his sleeve. “Alright. Let’s go in.” he said.

 

Gladio stepped up as well, nodding. “Let’s assure Noctis is laid to rest properly.” he said, almost unable to finish the statement.

 

The three of them progressed forward, making their way up the steps of the citadel slowly, each matching each other’s pace subconsciously. At the top of the stairs, they all turned to peer out at the light, the sky, the peacefulness that came back to this world because of Noctis.

 

“Thank you,” Ignis said, smiling somberly. The other two matched the expression, nodding.

 

“Thanks for everything, buddy.” Prompto said.

 

“Thanks, Noct. You’ve returned the light, and saved us. All of Eos.” Gladio said.

 

And with that, the three of them turned to enter the Citadel, prepared to find the worst once they reached the throne room. 

\--

It was agonizing. Walking through the Citadel for the second time. Entering the elevator and riding it up without Noctis. Walking down the large hallway without their friend. Their King.

 

They all stopped before the door to the throne room. None of them wanted to go in and see Noctis’ body, but they also didn’t want to leave him there had that been the case. 

 

Gladio was the first to step forward and pull open the doors. Slowly, the three of them stepped forward. 

 

Prompto let out a soft gasp, quickly bringing his hand to cover his mouth as he turned away, tears flooding his eyes faster than he could’ve stopped. 

 

Gladio turned his attention away from the sight as well, and he too was unable to stop the tears from falling. 

 

“I’m assuming the worst, then?” Ignis spoke gently into the tense atmosphere. 

 

“He’s there.” Gladio stated, looking back up to the throne.

 

“A sword through his chest.” Prompto added, turning to look at the throne as well.

 

Ignis made his way forward. Slow and calculated steps brought him to the steps, and he began his way up them, grip on the railing firm as he did so. Gladio and Prompto merely watched the strategist approach the corpse of the king.

 

“His Majesty gave it his all so we would all know peace again.” the advisor spoke softly, Fingers running along the wall, soon finding the edge of the throne. His motions were slow as he approached it, moving carefully but with ease. He slowly got to one knee beside the throne, head bowed as tears slipped from unseeing eyes. 

 

“Noct, know that we are forever grateful for your sacrifice to this world and to everyone in it.” he spoke softly, yet the other two could still hear. Ignis brought his hand to rest on the arm of the throne.

 

Prompto and Gladio quickly made their way up to the throne, following as Ignis did and falling to one knee before their fallen king. Prompto couldn’t bare to look at him, the sight too much to take in. Gladio rested a hand firmly on the opposite armrest of the throne, gripping it tightly. 

 

“Noctis. Everything you did...Thank you. You have come a long way, and damn it all, You deserved better than this.” Gladio spoke, choking back a sob. He continued “Yet it had to be you. To give your life to save everyone on Eos. Thank you.”

 

Prompto couldn’t bring himself to speak from where he was bowed before the deceased. How were the others so composed right then? He was about two seconds away from breaking down. He felt two warm hands clasp on his back, and he let out a sob, followed by a string of others. 

 

There was so much to say, yet he just sobbed. The other two cried as well, mourning the loss of their friend. They stayed like that for quite some time, crying, murmuring their thanks, and overall mourning. 

 

It took a lot of effort for them to rise. For them to converse about what to do from here. How to properly lay Noctis to rest from here. 

 

Their journey was over. And although the light was returned to Eos and they were safe, the loss they suffered was hard on them. 

 

They walked tall, however, out of that throne room that day. Knowing that Noctis laid down his life for all of Eos. He sacrificed himself for the better of all.

 

He had saved everyone.

 


End file.
